


Pause

by Book_Mage



Series: Shift [4]
Category: unOrdinary (Webcomic)
Genre: Role Reversal, Side Story, and mentioning a couple changes, basically me filling in some gaps, john-sera roleswap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26639053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Book_Mage/pseuds/Book_Mage
Summary: Every now and then, one needs to take the time to pause and see things from a different perspective.(A series of side stories set in the 'Shift' universe).
Series: Shift [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1928347
Comments: 9
Kudos: 24





	1. Blyke I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When going through John's things, Blyke finds an odd book on his bed, 'Unordinary'.

Blyke was not in an excellent mood. Staring down at his phone, he reread the text from Arlo.

_**Arlo:** John’s decided to join us in Turf Wars today. I’ll be playing the role of Jack. _

It was odd, really. Last time Blyke had talked to John, the latter had given no inclination he wanted to head back to Turf Wars. Ever since John had ascended to Ace, he’d abandoned the activity altogether. Why he had suddenly chosen to go back now of all days, Blyke had zero idea.

In the end, Blyke resolved to just play some video games and grab something to eat. Along the way to the kitchen, he passed by John’s room, and noted the door was left ajar. Typical John. He always forgot to lock things. Blyke leaned into his room, intending to close it when a book on the bed caught his eye.

_Unordinary?_

Blyke had loosely heard about it from a couple years ago, something about it causing an influx of high tiers doing something illegal. Blyke forgot mostly. It had been another high tier scandal that had come and gone. Against his better judgement, Blyke entered John’s room, walking as silently as he could, as if John could pop out of the closet at any moment to yell at him for snooping through his room while he was gone.

Blyke picked up the book on John’s bed, reading the back.

_A story about a man with powers in a world full cripples?_

_That's crazy premise, man._

Whatever. Blyke wasn’t exactly one to judge people on their questionable reading choices. It was probably nothing. He set the book back down, next to a small stuffed bear, which had a supremely annoyed expression on its face. Blyke bit back a laugh as he saw a name scrawled on the tag in John’s messy handwriting.

_'Arlo'_

* * *

Blyke was in the middle of playing video games when his phone had buzzed. He checked it, seeing a text from Arlo.

“Huh?” he muttered.

_**Arlo:** Inform me if John’s been doing anything suspicious lately._

_What?_

That was... weird. And also sudden. And also weirdly coincidental in that Blyke had seen that illegal book on John’s bed. Did that have something to do with this? His phone buzzed again, and Blyke saw it was another message from Arlo.

_**Arlo:** Also..._

_**Arlo:** If he asks why you weren’t able to join Turf Wars, tell him you were sick. _

Blyke bashed his head on his desk.

_Arlo, what the hell did you do this time?!_

* * *

Blyke pulled out his laptop, typing ‘Unordinary’ into the search bar. He’d definitely heard about it causing ripples, but he’d forgotten what it was, the event having happened nearly two years ago by that point. The results didn’t calm his frayed nerves.

_Following publication, Unordinary caused an influx of vigilantes (Note: ‘Super-Vigilantes; or ‘Superheroes’ are high-tier vigilantes- those with an ability level of 5.0 or higher)._

Gulping, Blyke recalled the news reports flying all around recently. Stories about vigilantes ending up getting murdered by an organization ‘EMBER’ in their attempts to help others.

John wouldn’t consider becoming a vigilante, right? While John was headstrong, he wouldn’t a decision as crazy as that one without putting some thought into it first.

Then again, John had changed in the last few months. Blyke wasn’t complaining about it- John was a lot more open than before, and they had good times together -but at the same, Blyke felt distant from him. He was always off doing Turf Wars and Jack work, while John started hanging out with the one cripple girl, Seraphina, all the time.

He... wouldn’t tell Arlo about this. Not for now. It was nothing to be worried about.

What was the worst that could happen?

* * *

It turned out, Arlo cornering him in the school courtyard was one of the worst things that could happen.

“Blyke, did you get my text about John?” Arlo said.

“Yeah, I did,” Blyke said, trying to act natural. “Nothing’s up with him. Same guy as always.”

“Really.” Arlo said.

“Really!” Blyke agreed.

As he turned to leave, a golden barrier sprung up. Arlo crossed his arms. “You’re a terrible liar, Blyke. What’s John been doing?”

“Uh...” Blyke muttered, scratching his head. “You see- He’s-“

“Get to the point.”

“I found this weird book, Unordinary, on his bed!” Blyke blurted. “It’s nothing to worry about!”

“Unordinary,” Arlo said tersely. “The same book that’s been banned for two years now?”

_Shit, he actually knows what it is?_

“Yeah, it is,” Blyke said, deciding to just be honest at this point. “I was just worried because... You know, a lot of high tiers who read it end up becoming vigilantes. And John’s-“

“Don’t worry about it, Blyke.” Arlo interrupted. “All you need to do is stay put for now. Does anyone else know about this?”

“No,” Blyke said, beginning to grow uneasy. “Arlo, what’re you planning this time?”

“You’ll see,” Arlo said nonchalantly. “Just make sure no one else finds out. I’ll tell what we should do about it later.”

* * *

Sure enough, a couple days later, Arlo sent him the message to tell Vaughn about the book. Blyke did so, feeling terrible the entire time. 

And that was how he found himself squirming in the hard metal chair, staring at the door to Vaughn’s office. Already, he felt like a total piece of shit for ratting John out like this, but he was worried for John. However small it was, there was a chance that John might've ended up becoming a vigilante, and ended up killed by EMBER.

The door swung open, revealing a rather angry John. John glared at him, and Blyke quickly looked away.

“I’m going to assume Arlo put you up to this because of what happened during Turf Wars,” John said tersely. “I’ll let it slide this time, but if I find you going through my things again, I will kick your ass.”

“Got it,” Blyke replied weakly.

John shook his head in disgust, entering Vaughn’s office. Blyke was very glad when the receptionist finally told him he could leave and quickly booked it out of there before John could finish speaking with Vaughn.

When Blyke headed back to his dorm after classes, there was a small note on the table, and John was nowhere to be seen.

_I've been suspended. See you in a month.  
\- John _

_**Shit.**_

* * *

Blyke and Remi walked down the halls of Wellston, heading to their class. Remi had been going on about something she had read recently when there’d been a loud shout across the hall from them.

“Hey cripple! Get out of the way!”

Blyke watched as Seraphina was knocked to the ground by a mid-tier, papers spilling out of her hands. The attacker laughed as she stepped past Seraphina, high-fiving her friend. Seraphina was left to scramble across the floors, grabbing her papers. Remi watched with a furrowed brow.

“I’m going to go help her,” Remi said, running towards Seraphina.

“Remi, wait-!”

Remi didn’t listen, already picking up pieces of fallen papers. “Are you okay? It’s Seraphina, right? Here, let me help you.”

Seraphina froze, then sharply inhaled, her expression darkening.

“Get the _fuck_ away from me!” Seraphina yelled, slapping Remi’s hand.

_What the hell?!_

Blyke’s hands glowed. Head pounding with anger, he raised a hand, aiming for a warning shot behind Seraphina’s head. Seraphina was already beginning to apologize, by Blyke wasn’t listening. He fired off a laser, and Seraphina ducked forward. A couple feet away from her, a locker smoked, the metal melted.

Blyke walked up to her, hands still glowing. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t beat your ass right now.”

Seraphina paused before glancing down. “I apologize. I mistook her for someone else.”

“What the hell is that even supposed to mean?” Blyke said, raising his arm.

_“Blyke.”_

Remi grabbed Blyke’s arm. “Just let it go. I’m fine.”

Blyke wanted to argue, but one look into Remi’s eyes told him he should just drop. Sighing, he lowered his arm, eyes returning to normal. Remi nodded, gesturing for him to walk off with her.

* * *

“Jeez, how much longer do you think they’re going to hold us?”

Isen sighed, staring down at the cuffs encircling his hands. “These things _suck_.”

“Just wait a little while longer, Isen, they’re just going over the tapes,” Remi said. “Once they see what really happened, we’ll all be in the clear.”

“It’s taking forever though,” Isen said. He glanced at Blyke. “What’s biting you? You’ve been silent for ages.”

“I’m just thinking,” Blyke said. “Something about that booth feels off.”

“It sold bears filled with trackers,” Isen deadpanned. “If that isn’t off, I don’t know what is.”

“I’m not an idiot,” Blyke said acridly. “It’s something else.”

_Booths holding teddy bears filled with trackers. They likely used them to gauge and track high tiers, seeing that you need a power level of 5+ to qualify for earning one._

_**Wait.** _

_John. When I was going through his things there-!_

“Oh fuck,” Blyke said aloud.

“What is it?” Remi said, concerned.

“John,” Blyke said. “John had one of those bears in his room.”

“What!?” Remi and Isen said at the same time.

“He was gone most of the day too,” Blyke said. “He said was going to the mall with his friend.”

“If he got a bear then though, that means it’s been sitting in his dorm for nearly a month now,” Remi said. “Are you sure, Blyke?”

“He’ll be coming back in a little more than a week from now,” Blyke said uneasily. “He was on a month of suspension. His room’s locked, and he’ll kill me if a blow a hole in his wall again. I’ll ask him when he gets back.”

* * *

A couple weeks later, John was finally back in the dormitories.

“John!” Blyke said. “It’s great to see you again, bro!”

He scratched his head. “And uh... I’m really sorry about the whole suspension thing. I didn’t think it’d be for a month.”

John just laughed. “Don’t worry about Blyke. It’s long in the past now. How were things while I was gone?”

“Same as always,” Blyke said. He paused. “Well uh, apart from one thing. Remi, Isen and I got arrested.”

“Really? What for?”

“You know the ability testing booth at the mall?” Blyke probed.

“Yeah, what about it?” John said. “I got a stuffed bear from them for being a high tier.”

Blyke’s heart sank.

“John, where is that bear?” he said.

“What?” John said. “In my room, why?”

Blyke shoved past him, ignoring John’s shouts of protest as he walked into John’s room, grabbing the bear on the nightstand.

“Blyke, what’s going on!?” John said.

“Remi got tested at that booth too,” Blyke said distractedly, tearing through the stitching at the back. “Remember how her passive is detecting circuitry? Well...”

He pulled the tracker out of the stuffing. “She sensed this when she got her bear.”

“Is... Is that a tracker?” John gasped.

“Yep,” Blyke said, crushing it underfoot. “We tried chasing after the booth guy, but we ended up being the ones apprehended.”

He opened his mouth to say more, but stopped at John’s expression. John was pale, and Blyke noticed that there were dark rings under his eyes. 

“Of course,” John muttered, almost inaudible. “Why didn’t I notice it before? That was how...”

He shook his head. “Thanks for telling me, Blyke. I should go inform Vaughn about this.”

“John, is everything alright?” Blyke said. “Did something happen during your suspension?”

“I can’t tell you,” John said. “I promise once everything gets figured out, I’ll tell you everything, but right now, I really need to go.”

He ran out of his room, leaving Blyke standing there, half-torn bear in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was having a bit of trouble writing Sera's part, so I figured I'd toss this up for the time being. Since most of the story will be from either John's or Sera's perspective (at least, for most of Season 1), we get some bonus perspectives in interludes like these to fill in a couple gaps. I'm still wrangling with what I'm keeping canon and what I'm not, so I figured this was the best way to deal with that.
> 
> So, Blyke part! In canon, Remi found the tracker in Sera's bear when she came to apologize to the latter for having to fill in for her as Queen in Turf Wars. Since that doesn't happen here, and since Remi doesn't really have a decent reason to randomly approach John in his dorm room, I had to figure out something else. Hence this happens. 
> 
> Unfortunately, by the time Blyke informs John of the tracker, John has already been attacked. But at least the trackers gone now! Better late than never I suppose?
> 
> Oh well. As mentioned above, I'm having a couple issues with Sera's part, but it'll probably be out in a week or two, depending on how much work school gives me. My workload is a lot heavier compared to last year, but everything should work out. We'll see.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> \- Book Mage


	2. Meili I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meili has some thoughts about what has happened over the last few weeks.
> 
> Takes place after Ch. 5 of Retribution.

Meili considered herself to be powerful.

Maybe she was conceited, but Meili felt her skills well warranted her title as an Elite. Even if she were far from the top rankings in a school as prestigious as Wellston, she was still respected enough. Low tiers averted their gaze when she walked past them. Mid tiers grudgingly worked with her. In Wellston, power was everything.

_Then why doesn’t she do anything with it!?_

Meili watched Sera’s retreating form as the girl slipped off to her dorm room, presumably to get healed by Elaine. She’d turned down all of Meili’s offers of help, then vaguely threatened her to not let it slip. Meili wasn’t an idiot. She knew when to keep her mouth shut, especially when Arlo ordered her to.

An amalgamation of both confusion and anger swirled in her. Seraphina had that incredible power, yet she hid it! If Meili had an ability like hers, she’d already have dethroned Remi and taken her rightful place as Queen, living the comfortable life of a god-tier. Yet all Sera wanted to do was remain hidden, and Meili was under strict orders to not defy her.

She clenched her jaw.

_What is Arlo playing at?_

* * *

_“Meili, Ventus, neither of you should say anything about Seraphina.”_

_“What!?” Ventus sprung out of his chair. “You mean after everything, she isn’t going to make a move?”_

_Arlo remained steadfast as always, stern gaze fixated on the both of them. “Seraphina has her reasons for not revealing herself. Neither of you are to speak about the incident.”_

_**So this is it, huh? Arlo’s no longer running the show?** _

_“Do you both understand?” Arlo said sharply, sensing both Meili’s and Ventus’ unease._

_“... Yes Arlo.”_

* * *

Meili mindlessly chewed on the end of her pencil, grimacing at the pale scars decorating her fingers, wrought from the beating Seraphina had ruthlessly given her. Even Elaine had gone pale when she saw what had happened to her hands.

Meili supposed she should be grateful that Elaine had made sure that there was no lasting damage inflicted. Without her hands, she had no ability, and with no ability, she had nothing to offer.

“How’s it going?”

Ventus' familiar voice soothed her frayed nerves, and she smiled up at him as he slid into his usual seat beside her. His eyes were crinkled, and he rubbed his temples, clearly worried about something.

“I’m fine,” Meili said. “You?”

“Anxious,” Ventus answered. “Did you hear the news?”

“What?” Meili said, already expecting the worst.

“John’s been helping low tiers,” Ventus said.

Meili relaxed. That was... better than what she had expected. “That isn’t too bad. Considering how he’s been acting lately, it seems like the next logical step.”

_I can’t really judge him, seeing how the last time we spoke was when we had an English project together five months ago. Not to mention he could kick my ass any time of day._

“I wonder what prompted his change,” Ventus said. “There are some rumours floating around that he got suspended for having that banned book, Unordinary, in his possession, you know.”

“Why would someone get suspended over a book?” Meili said. “That makes little sense.”

“Don’t you remember why it got banned?” Ventus pressed.

“It was... offensive...?”

“No,” Ventus paused. “Well, kind of yes, but that’s not the point. The point is, apparently people who read Unordinary end up becoming superheroes. And you know, most of the time they end up getting killed by EMBER.”

“So people are reaching?” Meili said dryly. “Ventus, less than a year ago, John rarely gave anyone the time of day unless they wronged him, or were a Royal.”

“But that was a year ago,” Ventus said. “People change, you know. Let’s be real. Things were heading up to this point for a while. Ever since he met Seraphina, he’s changed.”

“Seraphina,” Meili sighed. “Everything ties back to Seraphina. What is even going on with the high tiers now?”

_Seraphina’s just hiding in the shadows. Arlo doing... whatever to keep her at bay. John’s helping low tiers. I don’t even know what Remi and her friends are up to at this point._

_I swear, everyone has their own agenda these days! What is even going on up there? If only I was stronger, then I could get some actual info!_

“Calm down, Meili,” Ventus said, grabbing her hand gently. Meili realized her hands were clenched tightly around her pencil, about to snap it into two.

“I’m just tired of this, you know?” Meili sighed. “We might be Arlo’s good graces, but that means nothing in the long run. We’re nowhere near powerful enough to get any information out of anyone. Out of all of Arlo’s helpers, the only one weaker than us is Elaine, and even she has more authority because she’s Wellston’s Healer.”

“It is discouraging,” Ventus agreed. “But remember, we are Elites. We’re already impressively talented for our age, and we have the respect of mid and low tiers.”

He leaned back in his chair, sighing. “I think it’s best to wash our hands of it. We can’t do anything, and it doesn’t concern us anymore. We just have to ride out the storm until graduation, and then we’re good.”

“But that’s still another year and a half away,” Meili protested. “You really think nothing’ll happen during then?”

“Maybe it’s a pipe dream,” Ventus said. “But there’s not much else we can do at the moment. Sitting back is our best option.”

Though still disconcerted, Meili had to concede he had a point. Maybe it was best at this point to forget it ever happened. At worst, she’d have to cross paths with Seraphina now and then, and maybe an awkward conversation with the Royals. Maybe everything would go easily. Seraphina gave off the impression that she wanted to keep the charade up, and who was Meili to complain about that?

* * *

Meili sat in the living room of her dorm, listening to some music as she finished up her last few pages of homework. There was a quiet tap on the door, and Meili almost missed it through the hum of her music.

“Come in!” she said, taking out her earbuds.

A petite girl with two green buns entered the dorms. She gave Meili an apologetic smile. “Oh, hey Meili. Have you seen Misa?”

“She headed out with Brea earlier,” Meili replied. “Are you looking for her, Juni?”

“I wanted to ask some questions about tomorrow’s math test.” Juni murmured.

She glanced at Meili, tilting her head. “Is something wrong? You seem troubled.”

“It’s nothing,” Meili said. “Just some stuff is happening, you know?”

Maybe she was being vague, but Meili really wasn’t in the mood for conversation at the moment, and she only knew Juni from passing conversations she had with Misa.

“What kind of stuff?” Juni probed.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Meili replied. “Elite-tier things. It’ll all be fine.”

“Oh, okay!” Juni said. “See you later!”

Meili could’ve sworn she’d seen a grin spread across Juni’s face as she left, but perhaps it was just her imagination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally updated this again! I've been meaning to for awhile, but I couldn't seem to get anything finished. Glad I finally managed to finish a piece.
> 
> If it isn't obvious yet, I have a soft spot for a lot of the Uno side characters (Meili, Evie, Roland, Adrion, etc.), so Meili's been getting a decent amount of spotlight lately. Since Meili and Ventus don't appear a whole lot, and they only really seem to be Arlo's lackeys, I extrapolated from there. I'd imagine one would want to get on Arlo's good side, and Meili and Ventus are pretty much locked out of the loop the entire time. I mean, they don't have a huge stake in the drama like Remi or Cecile do, so I can see why they weren't really included, but it was something interesting to note.
> 
> As a side note, Retribution will likely not be updating this week. I got my wisdom teeth removed, so I'm going to be out of it for the next few days, and I need to iron out a couple timeline issues before I published the chapter. I apologize for that.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> \- Book Mage


End file.
